YLaw - Family Law Firm Vancouver & Surrey, BC Lawyers. Divorce, Children & Common Law. Asset & Debt Division, Spousal & Child Support. Settlements, Appeals & Agreements. Estate, Corporate & Immigration Litigation. | HQ: 580-1122 Mainland St, Vancouver, BC V6B 5L1

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Trudy Hopman
Trudy Hopman
Family & Estates Lawyer | Mediator, Arbitrator & Parenting Coordinator | Vancouver
604-974-9529
[email protected]
Book Mediation with Trudy

 

Trudy Hopman has been accredited with the Best Lawyers 2026 award.

For more than 30 years, Trudy Hopman has guided hundreds of clients through marriage, separation, divorce, child custody, property division, and other domestic matters. She has extensive experience in complex family law disputes and is also experienced in plaintiff personal injury and estate litigation.

She’s both a litigator and a mediator, but her Calling is helping people resolve their disputes through mediation and arbitration. 

Trudy is regularly involved in multi-party negotiations, trials, and appeals. Trudy is particularly adept at files that have complex financial issues, and those with high-conflict parenting issues. She has built strong relationships with leading experts and professionals to assist her clients when necessary.

Trudy as Family Law and Estates Mediator

Trudy has:

  • 33 years of experience as a family law litigator doing complex litigation including international matters, complex and high net-worth financial cases, and high conflict parenting matters
  • 20 years of experience as a mediator and roster member of Mediate BC
  • 10 years of experience as a parenting coordinator and roster member of BCPCS
  • 10 years of experiences as an arbitrator
  • 15 years of experience in collaborative family law practice
  • 99% settlement rate at mediation

Fixed Cost

  • Certainty about cost – flat fee services $6,000.00 per full day of mediation, including pre mediation calls, violence screening, travel time
  • Trudy will draft consent orders, parenting plans, or other settlement documents on agreed issues as the mediation progresses so that you have something signed when the mediation ends, and such costs are included in the flat fee above
  • Will travel to Fraser Valley, Vancouver Island, Okanagan, Interior, Kootenays at no extra cost (outside of disbursements)

Availability, Convenience, Network of Professionals

  • Available on less than 30 days’ notice
  • Available evenings and weekends, without fixed hours
  • Will mediate with or without counsel
  • Can host mediations in our Vancouver or Surrey offices, or remotely
  • Can offer a referral network of experts, solicitors for property transfers, financing, corporate rollovers, and tax opinions, counsellors and parenting coordinators
  • Can offer in-house experienced family law lawyers readily available if you want to have a second or third opinion during the mediation.

Approach

Family Law, Estate Litigation, and Other Cases 

Trudy is well known for her passionate, no-nonsense approach, her legal expertise, and her ability to craft creative legal solutions. She is a strong advocate for alternate methods of resolving disputes where clients fashion the outcome, rather than having one imposed by a court.


Parenting Coordinator and Family Law Arbitrator

Trudy was trained as a Mediator early in her practice so that she could effectively represent her clients in that forum and has also trained in the Collaborative process. When the new parenting coordinator and family law arbitration process came to British Columbia, she was quick to become accredited as a Parenting Coordinator as well as a Family Law Arbitrator.

 

Book Mediation with Trudy
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Education

Alternate Dispute Resolution Training, Courtroom Experience, and Vast Law Knowledge

With over 30 years of experience as a family lawyer, and 20 years of experience as a mediator, Trudy is able to confidently evaluate cases and advise her clients on the best forum for the resolution of their disputes, whether that be an alternate dispute resolution process or litigation.

Languages

English and Dutch Bilingual Lawyer

  • English 
  • Dutch

Court Success

Education

  • University of Lethbridge                Bachelor of Arts (Philosophy Major) 1983
  • University of Lethbridge                Bachelor of Education (Secondary Science) 1983
  • University of British Columbia       LLB 1989

Bar admission

 

  • British Columbia, 1991

Accreditation

  • The Law Society of British Columbia, Family Law Arbitrator (2014)
  • The Law Society of British Columbia, Family Law Mediator (2014)
  • The Law Society of British Columbia, Parenting Coordinator (2015)

Leadership

  • Injunctions, published by the Continuing Legal Education Society of BC, Author “Family Law Injunctive Relief”, 2022
  • Family Law Agreements Manual, published by the Continuing Legal Education Society of BC, Consultant
  • Thunderbirds Hockey Association, Risk Manager, Former Board Member (2009 – 2017)
  • Trial Lawyers Association of BC, Board Member
  • Westside Warriors Football, Former Board Member (2008 – 2012)

Membership

  • Access Pro Bono Family Law Roster, Roster Member
  • BC Parenting Coordinators Roster Society, Vancouver, Roster Member
  • Canadian Bar Association, BC Branch Subsections, Member:
    • Alternative Dispute Resolution
    • Family Law
    • Wills & Estates
  • Collaborative Divorce Vancouver Society, Member
  • Mediate BC (Family), Roster Member
  • The Law Society of British Columbia, Member

Community Involvement

  • Access Pro Bono, Volunteer
  • Society for Children and Youth of British Columbia, Volunteer Lawyer (application in process)
  • New Westminster Family Section, Volunteer Coordinator
  • Pro Bono Collaborative Roster Society, Volunteer
  • Salvation Army Pro Bono Clinic, Past Volunteer

VICTORIES

A SLEW OF VICTORIES, BUT WHO’S COUNTING? Case Li v. Virk – 2023

Harry Saini was the successful counsel in the residential tenancy litigation case Li v. Virk at the Supreme Court of British Columbia. The Story In December 2018, Ms. Li agreed to pay the Landlord of a Richmond property $2500 for monthly rent There was a problem with one of the rooms, so the Landlord and Ms. Li revised the tenancy…

A SLEW OF VICTORIES, BUT WHO’S COUNTING? Case: L.C vs. E.S – 2017

Child Removal, International Custody, Parenting Time This was a case which made local, national and international headlines. It spans several countries and took more than 5 years to resolve. During those 5 years, the mother did not allow the father or her brother to see her. She kept on feeling around the world to make sure the father does not…

A SLEW OF VICTORIES, BUT WHO’S COUNTING? S.C vs L.H – 2017

Groundbreaking case on Child Abduction, Wrongful Removal of Children and Wrongful Retention of Children. YLaw's latest BC Supreme Court Case has become one of the most important cases in the entire history of British Columbia on Child Abduction and Wrongful Removal. This case was reported on CBC, the Vancouver Sun, multiple child abduction websites, and later Leena was published with her story…

A SLEW OF VICTORIES, BUT WHO’S COUNTING? Ting vs. Wong – 2017

In yet another groundbreaking case in 2017, YLaw was able to obtain more than $116,000 in contempt fines in addition to special costs. This marks the highest family law contempt award in the history of British Columbia.  The Story - Contempt of Multiple Court Orders Ms. T's story was heartbreaking but beautiful at the end. She was left alone with her…

A SLEW OF VICTORIES, BUT WHO’S COUNTING? Case: Storey v. Terry – BC Court of Appeal – 2020

Leena Yousefi and Abib Ngom were successful counsel in the precedent-setting case of Storey v. Terry.  In this case, the wife applied for an unequal division of family property, an unequal division of family debt. Her Appeal was unsuccessful. As per the Court of Appeal: The appellant appeals a summary trial order providing for the equal division of the parties’…

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Case: Storey v. Terry – BC Court of Appeal – 2020
Personal life

Born to parents who were recent immigrants to Canada from Holland, Trudy’s first language spoken at home was Dutch. Always dreaming of moving west, Trudy’s father took a transfer from the city of Montreal, PQ to Sparwood, British Columbia, a coal mining town in the East Kootenays.   


Becoming a Lawyer and Attending Law School

Trudy had never met a lawyer in real life, but loved reading novels with Lawyers as protagonists – and dreamed of one day becoming a lawyer.

Trudy attended the University of Lethbridge, where she did a dual degree majoring in Philosophy and Education. After a stint as a Secondary Math and Physics teacher, and as a newlywed making a new life in Vancouver, Trudy went to UBC Law School.

Trudy’s marriage survived law school, and she and her husband of 39 years have two sons. She is a daughter, wife, mother, aunt, daughter-in-law, and sister-in-law, and understands these familial relationships are what matters most.

 

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